Change of Heart
by X-Nefertiri-X
Summary: A story of Lily and James's last year at Hogwarts. Between Head duties, classes and James's old habbit coming to an end, will Lily keep control over her emotions? And what has Sirius and James so depressed? ON HIATUS untill said so otherwise...
1. A New Beginning

James Potter had always been a loud boy, always the centre of attention and if not, very close to it. His two best friends Sirius Black and Remus Lupin were just the same as him, though each boy possessed a certain quality that they brought to their group called the marauders, a group that every student, teacher and ghost was far too familiar with. Peter Pettigrew, the fourth member of the marauders, moved away at the start of their fourth year at Hogwarts and attended Durmstrang for two years until he was killed for refusing to join Voldemort and his other followers, the Death Eaters.

During the holidays between sixth and seventh year, James and Sirius had quite the reason to give up their childish behaviour. Remus, who was already ten times more mature than the two boys, would now be seen as the most childish of the three.

James had received his Hogwarts letter a week after the incident and was most surprised when he found out that he had been made head boy, but he really didn't care anymore. In James's eyes, it was all a load of rubbish, it didn't matter.

Stepping onto the Hogwarts Express, James's appearance certainly reflected his mood. His normally untidy hair now hung flat on his head, his fringe coming down into his hazel eyes, the eyes that used to be full of life and laughter, that were now cold and empty. Sirius looked as if his whole personality had been re-modelled. He was no longer jumpy and excited, but saddened, a look of longing in his eyes. Remus came up behind the two boys, he looked like he did almost every year, but this time there was something missing. Remus was not wearing the smile that he normally wore when he stepped onto the train and that was enough, to make everyone wonder what could possibly be wrong.

'I have to go to the heads compartment… I'll see you guys soon.' James said, turning around to face Sirius and Remus. He gave both boys a quick hug and walked down the corridor past all the compartments with kids' heads sticking out, down to the head boy's and girl's compartment where he would finally meet the head girl.

He slid the door back and stepped inside to find a girl with auburn hair reading the Daily Prophet. Her head was down so James could not see her face. 'I'm James Potter,' said James dully, 'and you are?'.

'Potter, I hope that you are fully aware that this is the heads compartment and if you're about to tell me that you're head boy I just might scream.' The girl said rather quickly.

'Ah, Lily Evans.' James said, dropping his gaze to the floor a second before Lily looked up at him. 'Didn't mean to bother you… and I'm sorry to upset you… but, yeah I am head boy.'

'Ok, let's get something straight right now, Potter. We have to work together on assignments set by Dumbledore and we have to do extra rounds, help teachers… and we still have to go to class and do homework. So I am warning you now Potter, stay out of my way.'

'Ok Lily… Whatever you say.' James sighed, flopping down into the seat across from her.

'I'm serious! You know you have been given a huge responsibility from Dumbledore, so that means no more pranks, no more asking me out and no more hexing people for the fun of it!' Lily said, standing up in front of James. Just then the train gave a sudden lurch and Lily fell into James's lap. Lily's cheeks turned a soft pink colour and she quickly shot up again. 'And don't even think about doing that again Potter.'

'Sorry Lily, but I don't see how I could have done that while I wasn't even touching my wand, nor was I driving the train.'

'Oh alright! Point taken then Potter. And may I ask you why you are calling me Lily?'

'Because that's your name, don't you think we should call each other by our first names if we are to be working with each other a lot more now?'

'HA! Nice try Potter… but if you are trying to soften me up so I will go out with you, that is not going to happen. Now, this I found this list when I entered the compartment…' Lily said, changing the subject very quickly indeed. '…and it has all the names of the prefects and the new passwords for each common room. I think we should hold a meeting in here in half an hour and tell the prefects their respective duties and passwords. Potter are you even listening to me?' she asked, sitting down on James's left.

'Yeah I was, meeting, half an hour, prefects, duties, passwords… got it. I'm sorry Lily I have to go… Got to find Moony and Padfoot… I'll see you soon.' And James got up and left Lily to her thoughts.

* * *

Not even five seconds after James had left the compartment, Lily's two best friends Simone and Rachel came bounding into the compartment.

'Who was that Lils?' Rachel asked, referring to the boy that had just left the compartment. 'I don't think I've seen him before… is he new?'

'That, ladies… was James Potter.'

'James? Are you serious? He looked a little worse for wear didn't he?' Simone commented.

'Oh he's probably just upset because our Lily rejected him for the three hundredth time.' Rachel laughed, patting Lily on the shoulder as she did so.

'No, that's definitely not it.' Said Simone.

'Ok, Simone love. What do you know that we don't?'

'Care to share?'

'Yeah come on Simone share with us!'

'Just open your mouth and…'

'If you two would shut up, then I'd tell you. But we can always wait, I already know why he's so gloomy.' Simone said simply.

Lily was just about to say something when Rachel flung her hand over Lily's open mouth and received a bite on the hand for doing so.

'OUCH! Bloody hell Lily!' Rachel complained.

'Well you deserved it'

'If you've drawn blood…'

'Ok, guys… time to shut up now and listen to Simone's story!' Simone called above the racket the two were making.

The two bickering girls stopped suddenly and sat down on the bench next to each other while Simone shut the compartment door and then took a seat across from them.

* * *

'Hey Prongs.' Remus greeted James as he closed the compartment door. 'Who's the head girl?'

'Evans' James muttered under his breath.

'I'm sorry… who?'

'I, I said Evans.' James said a little louder this time.

'Ah, Lily! I thought she'd make head girl. She's a rather talented witch isn't she?'

'Yeah… talented.' James went back to muttering.

'Don't worry Prongs' Sirius began 'maybe she'll finally stop being so big-headed and realise that you've given up on chasing her?'

James nodded silently in agreement. That summer had changed everything. Nothing mattered to James anymore, not even finally getting the girl of his dreams, Lily.

Twenty minutes passed by exceptionally slow. All three boys rarely spoke and spent their time reading some of their text for that year.

James looked at his watch for the umpteenth time that train ride and decided that it was time for him to go and start gathering the prefects.

'You know Prongs… you could just do this…' Remus held his want to his throat and muttered 'Sonorus' He then stood up and walked out of the compartment and stood in the corridor. 'Could all prefects please go to the heads compartment in five minutes. All prefects go to the heads compartment in five minutes, thankyou.' Removing his wand from his throat, Remus came back inside the compartment and sat down.

'Thanks Moony' said James 'That saved me a lot of trouble'

'Don't mention it Prongs.'

'Hey Prongs… don't you think you should be going?'

'Yeah…' James sighed 'Once again… I'll see you guys later.'

James made his way back out into the corridor and made his way back up the train to the heads compartment. He got there in time to see Simone and Rachel leaving. 'Hi, James…' They both said quietly, opening the compartment door for him. James stepped inside to find a silently crying Lily. He slowly walked over to her and kneeled in front of her.

'Umm… Lily…' James began 'I don't know if I'm exactly the person you want to see right now, but are you alright?'

'James!' Lily said, quickly drying her eyes 'No, I'm fine, really! Is it time for the meeting?'

James started at her. 'You, you just called me James, not Potter. Are you sure you're ok?'

'Yes James I'm fine!' Lily laughed 'I thought about what you said before and I think it's best if we call each other by our first names.'

'And that's why you were crying?'

'Oh shove off Potter' Lily joked, playfully hitting him in the arm.

'Seriously Lily,' James said, grabbing one of her hands and holding it in both of his. 'I don't know if you can ever forgive me for all the childish things that I have done in the past, but if you ever feel like u need to just talk to someone, about anything… I'm here.'

Lily felt like her heart had melted. Out of all her male friends and boyfriends, not one of them had said anything like that. To be there for her when she just wanted to rant about nothing in particular. When she felt like discussing lessons her friends felt were boring. When she just needed to laugh, James was offering to be there for her. And that was the best feeling in the world. Sure, she had Simone and Rachel, but they were like her sisters, what wasn't she going to tell them? Lily always felt that the best protection you can get, is the feeling of a man's strong arms around you, a man that loved you for you. And James was offering his protection, not asking her out.

'Thanks James,' Lily whispered 'I'm here for you too.'

There was a sudden knock at the door and James quickly let go of Lily's hand and sat down next to her. 'Come in' James said and the door slid back to reveal 16 students (four from each house) who came piling into the compartment.

The meeting ran smoothly enough, the prefects were told to patrol the corridors now and then for the rest of the train ride to the castle, and they were given passwords to the common rooms and told their duties.

'A roster will appear in each of your common rooms by Wednesday and it will tell you when you are expected to patrol the corridors of the castle and where you will be. Each patrolling session need not last longer than an hour, except for special circumstances. Thankyou, we'll see you all again at the next meeting in two weeks time.' James said.

As the students filled out of the compartment, Lily stared at the boy in front of her. No, he was no longer a boy, he was a man. That incident in the summer holidays was definitely more than enough to make him a man, yet it was not the man she thought he would grow to be.

'_Wait, Lily…'_ Her sub-conscious began _'You shouldn't even be thinking about him! What's gotten into you girl? Unless… Wait! You like thinking about him don't you?'_

'**Now that's just silly!'** Lily argued back. She did not like to think about James Potter in any way shape or form. And currently being busy arguing with herself, she didn't notice when James started talking to her. It was only when he waved his hand in front of her face, that she finally snapped out of it.

'Oh! Sorry James,' Lily said 'I just spaced out for a moment.

'Well I'm going to go back to Padfoot and Moony, I'll see you round Lily.'

'Yes, see you… James' Lily said, rather breathlessly.

'**God Lily, pull yourself together girl!'**

'_You loved that didn't you?'_

'**Loved what?'**

'_Having him right in front of you!'_

'**As if!'**

'_And you could see his muscles through his shirt'_

'**So what if I could?'**

'_Well you were staring at his six-pack'_

'**I was not!'**

'_Deny it all you want!'_

'**Fine I will!'**

'_I still know you better than anyone.'_

Lily groaned and slumped back in her seat. This was going to be a very long year.

* * *

AN: Well review if you liked it! And review if you didn't… actually… just review! This is my second Harry Potter Fan Fiction! SO! If anyone would like to make any guesses as to what it is that has the boys so down… then be my guest! I hope you'll all be so kind as to boost my writing skills and imagination and give me some reassuring and constructive comments.

Until next chapter.

-X-Nefertiri-X-


	2. Sorting Hat Songs

**AN: HEY! I'm back! I know it has been months since i last wrote... and if you were waiting for the next chapter i'm really sorry for the seriously long delay, but i couldn't help it! So Enjoy the chapter and thanks for reading!**

* * *

'Look!'

'Where?'

'Right there!'

'What am I looking at?'

'Oh don't be silly Lily!' laughed Rachel, directing Lily's head to look straight at James.

'Oh very funny Rach' Lily said sarcastically 'I just love looking at James.'

Unfortunately for Lily, Sirius was passing just behind her when she said this and Sirius, being the prankster and annoying person that he was, bounded up to James and told him. James turned around and looked at Lily for a second, then turned back and sat down at the Gryffindor table. Then, much to Lily's annoyance, Simone and Rachel made her sit across from him.

'He really doesn't look so good.' Lily whispered in Simone's ear. 'Was it really that bad? What you told me and Rachel…'

'I heard it third hand Lily… the real experience was bound to be ten times worse.' Simone replied, her voice growing fainter with every word.

Dumbledore stood up and the hall fell silent. Everyone was looking at him, except Lily and James, he was too busy examining his plate, while Lily was too busy examining him. And as Lily watched, a single tear dripped off the tip of his nose and fell soundlessly onto his plate.

'Welcome, to another year at Hogwarts,' Dumbledore began 'would the new first year students please come forward to be sorted!'. The great oak doors leading to the entrance hall opened and a bunch of scared looking first years wandered up to the high table and lined up in front of the old sorting hat. Everyone watched closely, as a rip near the brim of the hat twitched and the sorting hat began its song for the year.

'_Over a thousand years ago,_

_When Hogwarts first was built,_

_The four founders made a pact,_

_To teach those that they wilt._

_Gryffindor took the brave ones,_

_That were prized above the rest,_

_And Ravenclaw, the intelligent,_

_Took those of the cleverest._

_Slytherin took the students,_

_Of cunning and great ambition,_

_While Hufflepuff took those,_

_Who were worthy of admission._

_Though while alive they did divide,_

_And go their separate ways,_

_Though it's best to be united,_

_Like the founders in those days._

_So slip me on your empty head,_

_And be true to your heart,_

_For now I am to sort you,_

_And hope your friendships will not part.'_

The hall broke into applause and many of the students exchanged glances. The sorting hat had never said anything like that before.

Lily was still looking at James who had finally looked up and was cheering with the other Gryffindors as new students joined their house. He looked so different to how he looked last year. So full of life, making pranks, constantly asking Lily out, playing Quidditch. Lily understood why James was so different, but she could have never imagined this.

'Lily.. OI! Lily!' Simone whispered, poking Lily in the ribs to get her attention.

'Ouch! Cut your nails Simone, honestly!'

'Ok, ok, sorry.'

'What did you poke me for?'

'To ask you why you were staring at James!'

'What? I wasn't staring at him!'

Simone met Lily's eyes with a quizzical look. 'Oh?'

'Alright, maybe I was!' Lily whispered 'But it doesn't mean anything!'

'Sure it doesn't' A nosey Rachel added.

Lily rolled her eyes and began piling the newly appeared food onto her plate for the start of term feast. She began eating and had her fork half way up to her mouth when she looked up at James again, she was surprised to note that he wasn't eating. Sirius on James's left however, was eating like he normally does, messily and quickly. Lily watched as James sighed and hunched over his plate.

'Potter, Evans,' Professor McGonagall interrupted the train of Lily's thoughts.

'Professor, good evening.' James said politely, looking up at her from his hunched position.

'Good evening Potter, would you and Miss Evans please go to Dumbledore's office in fifteen minutes? I realise that you have not quite finished eating, or even started…' she added, glancing down at James's plate with a sad look. 'but you will have the opportunity to make up for that after you meet with Dumbledore.'

'Certainly Professor,' Lily said, meeting McGonagall's face with a smile.

'Good. And you'll need the password to get in.' McGonagall added, handing James a piece of parchment and walking off.

'Lily? Are you ready to go?' James asked, standing up.

'Oh, sure… James.'

Rachel nudged Simone in the side and pointed to Lily's expression. 'Do you think she likes him yet?' Rachel asked as Lily followed James out of the Great Hall.

'No, it's too early for her to like him, just give it a few weeks.' Simone replied.

* * *

'James, wait' Lily said, speeding up to catch up with the quick stepped James, who stopped abruptly and made Lily collide with his shoulder and stumble backwards.

'Lily! I'm sorry, are you alright?' James asked, turning around quickly to face her.

'Yes, I'm fine…' Lily said, looking down at her feet. 'I was just wondering if… well umm,'

'If what?' James asked, folding his arms defensively.

'If umm, you could tell me the password?'

'Sure, here.' James said, thrusting the piece of parchment at Lily.

Lily took the parchment and read the password _sugar quill_ and looked back up at James who was staring at Lily with an almost longing look in his eyes.

'C'mon, we've got to get up to Dumbledore's office.'

The two continued their walk to the Gargoyle guarding Dumbledore's office and James said the password. They stood on the revolving staircase which wound its way up to the office door.

'Won't Dumbledore still be at the feast though?' Lily asked as James raised his fist to knock on the door.

'Actually, he's right behind you.' Dumbledore said, stepping past them and opening the door himself while the other two followed him inside.

'Please take a seat.' Dumbledore said and seated himself behind his desk, folding his fingers together.

James and Lily sat down and waited for Dumbledore to begin.

'As you both should know,' Dumbledore began. 'The position of Head Boy and Girl is a highly complex post. And if you two weren't the brightest students in your year and able to keep up with your homework, then I would have never given you this opportunity. I say this just so you know how much work you will need to be doing in addition to your regular studies.'

'Yes sir.' Lily said, to show that she understood him.

'Here is a list, of all the tasks you will need to be completing for me before the third week of term. Now I realise that there are quite a few of them, but the school needs to stay on top of these things.'

James read the list aloud and Lily listened intently.

'Sir, do we really have to do all those tasks?' Lily questioned.

'Certainly! Unless you'd rather give up your post as Head Girl.'

'No! Uh, no sir, thankyou.' Lily stammered.

'Yes, well I think you two would like to continue your meal. If you journey to the fourth floor corridor you will find a painting of a rather chatty horse. If you give him the password _Phoenix _then you shall be able to get into your new common room.'

'New common room, Sir?'

'Yes James. You and Miss Evans will be sharing a special common room for the Head Boy and Girl. Now off to bed!'

'Night Professor.' Lily said.

She and James made their way down to the fourth floor and along the gloomy corridor. They stopped next to a painting of a horse that was fast asleep.

'Excuse me?' Lily asked, tapping the frame of the painting.

The horse woke up suddenly and started talking rapidly. They caught very few words that he said, but they were sure that he was talking about them being disrespectful to his sleeping needs.

'Phoenix' James said, stepping in front of the painting.

The painting swung forward to reveal a door handle which James turned and pushed the door open. He held the door open for Lily to pass through first and then James followed her inside and shut the door behind them.


	3. Problems in the Dorm

**AN: So! New chapter right here and ready to roll! Hope you all enjoy it! I wrote the whole thing today because i got bored with doing homework. Annoying stuff it is. Well R&R if you feel like it!!! Catch you at the end of the chapter!**

* * *

The two walked into a large common room about the same size as the one back in Gryffindor tower and furnished the same way. There was a staircase leading up to what Lily would presume as their bedrooms and hopefully a bathroom where she could finally relax in a hot bath and her favorite book.

Looking up at the ceiling Lily noticed a hundred or so floating candles in the shape of a chandelier positioned in the middle of the room. 'James, isn't this room wonderful? James?' Lily turned around, expecting to see him standing behind her, staring at the room with as much awe as she had. But he wasn't there. Turning back she noticed the hem of his robes whipping around the corner has he ascended the stairs.

'Well he obviously isn't hungry… actually… neither am I now.' Lily said to herself.

She let out a sigh and followed him up the stairs. When she reached the landing she saw two doors facing opposite each other, both with a silver plaque, one saying 'Head Boy' the other saying 'Head Girl'. Lily entered her designated room and didn't take much time to look around before she threw herself onto the bed.

'_Lily, Lily, Lily. Tough night for you is it?'_

'**Oh go away, I'm not in the mood.'**

'_Either way I'm staying right here.'_

'**Then shut up!'**

'_Nice room you've got here,'_

'**Thank you'**

'_Lot's of uh… Bed space…'_

'**Don't start,'**

'_I'm not going to start anything!'_

'**You're so annoying!'**

'_Not nearly as annoying as you are!'_

'**How am I annoying?'**

'_You won't admit that you like Potter!'_

'**But I don't like him!'**

'_Oh yes you do'_

'**Do not'**

'_Do too!'_

'**Do not!'**

'_Do too!'_

'I do not!!!' Lily said out loud.

There was a pause. Her mind was blank. Maybe Lily had finally won this fight with her conscience.

'**HA, HA, HA!'**

'_Do too.'_

'JUST PISS OFF!' Lily yelled, grabbing one of her pillows and flinging it at her door. Unfortunately for her, the door had opened a few seconds earlier before Lily had flung the pillow which now smacked an unsuspecting James in the face.

James stumbled back, almost tripping over his own feet. Lily's hands flew to her mouth and her eyes grew wide. 'James! I'm so sorry!'

'No, it's ok Lily. I'll just umm… Piss off?'

'James I wasn't ta – '

'Night Lily.' James said, closing her bedroom door behind him.

'Great Lily, just great.' She muttered to herself. 'First you go fighting with your sub-conscious and then you go and smack James Potter's face with a pillow. Brilliant, just peachy.'

Grumbling absentmindedly, Lily got changed into her matching grey singlet and boy-leg underwear after deciding to give the bath a miss when she realized that it was now 11:30pm and classes started the next day. She fetched her pillow from the doorway where it still sat after hitting James. She smiled momentarily, thinking about the look on James's face when it happened.

Lily climbed into bed and fell asleep almost instantly.

* * *

'James get out of here.' A man said, ducking a curse.

'No!'

'James go! We'll hold them off!'

'I'm not going anywhere!'

'Get out of here! Stupefy! Go now!' The man ordered, aiming at the enemy.

'I WON'T!'

'James I need you alive!'

'It's me they want!'

'Which is exactly the reason why you have to go!'

'NO!'

'GO JAMES!'

Lily opened her eyes. She heard yelling coming from James's room. She grabbed her wand off the nightstand and ran into his room. James was twisted up in his covers, thrashing around wildly. He was covered in sweat and his sheets were stained with blood.

'Blood?' Lily thought

Lily then ran to his side and tried to wake him up. 'James come on. Wake up James!' She said, taking hold of his shoulders while he was thrashing around. 'JAMES!' She screamed shaking him. 'WAKE UP!!! JAMES!'

His eyes snapped open and his yelling stopped. He looked directly at Lily who still held tight onto his shoulders. He was panting heavily.

'James, James are you ok?' She then noticed a deep gash above his right eyebrow. 'Oh shit, here.' Lily let go of James's shoulders and tore off the bottom of her singlet and held it up to his cut. They stayed like that for a few minutes before James finally spoke.

'Lily… What are you doing in here?'

'You had a nightmare. Don't worry. You're fine now.' Lily felt like she was mothering a child. And seeing as how James was taller than her, she felt a little foolish.

'Thanks Lily, but… you don't need to do all this.'

'James you scared me to death! Of course I need to do this!' For some reason unknown to both of them, silent tears began running down her face.

'Lily, please don't cry' he said, wiping away a tear with his thumb.

'Seen enough of that already have you?' She laughed, trying to lighten the mood.

James smiled and Lily felt her stomach do a back flip.

'Umm Lily… Do you want a shirt or something?'

'Why? OH!' Lily looked down and noticed the extra flesh that she was revealing after ripping her singlet.

'Over there' James pointed in the direction of his closet. 'Just grab a shirt or something, I don't mind.'

Lily made sure James had his hand on the cloth stopping his blood while Lily went over to his closet and pulled out a red T-shirt and slipped it on. Walking back over to his bed Lily spotted his alarm clock which read 6:00.

'Oh I'm never going to get back to sleep now' Lily said, failing to stifle a yawn.

James sighed, 'I'm sorry about that Lily,'

'Don't worry about it James, really. I would be waking up in 45 minutes anyway.'

'You get up at quarter to seven?' James asked in astonishment.

'Yes, not everyone sleeps in like you do!'

'I don't sleep in! I just have a hard time waking up' James pouted.

'Sure James' Lily said, rolling her eyes as she did.

'Oi! I saw that!'

'Oh calm down Potter, I was kidding'

The two sat the in silence for a few more minutes before Lily spoke again.

'James, could you tell me… Well you don't have to but… What were you dreaming about?'

'Oh umm… My dream, ah.'

'Forget about it, I shouldn't have asked.'

'No, I'm sorry Lily but I can't tell you yet. Maybe one day when we're better friends.'

Lily's mouth curved into a small smile, 'Sure James, It's a date.'

The two continued talking until 7AM when Lily realized what the time was and made a mad dash to the shower. When she got out she almost ran into James who was standing outside the door waiting for his turn.

'Uh, this is going to happen all year isn't it?' Lily asked, almost laughing.

'Yeah, it just might.'

* * *

**AN: Well? what did you think? It's been a while since i've let my imagination work and this is the result of it. Tell me your thoughts!**

**Until next chapter then!**

**-X-Nefertiri-X-**


	4. First Day: Part 1

**AN: So I'm back again with another chapter that I just wrote today. I think I'm getting the hang of this. Hope you take the time to read and enjoy!**

* * *

Lily and James both went down to the Great Hall for breakfast at separate times. Lily arrived before James and made her way down to the end of the table where her friends sat. She had to laugh when she saw Sirius stuffing his face and the disgusted faces of Rachel and Simone who were sitting across from him and Remus. Remus had the Daily Prophet propped up against a jug of water and was biting into an apple as he looked up at Sirius and raised an eyebrow. He turned and grinned at Lily who laughed and sat herself down next to Rachel.

'Morning Rachel, Simone. Has McGonagall come past with our timetables yet?'

'Ah now Lily that wasn't very nice!' Rachel teased. 'No, Hey how are you, how was your night without me?'

'I'm sorry guys. How was your night?'

'It was hilarious!' Simone blurted out, spitting bits of her cereal over Rachel.

'Eww, Simone!' Rachel complained, trying to wipe the mess off her formerly clean robes.

Lily couldn't help but laugh at her two friends. 'So why was it hilarious?'

Simone swallowed this time before answering. 'Well Melissa was talking to Alana about how she was finally going to seduce James this year. I couldn't contain my laughter!'

'Yeah and I had to cast a silencing charm around your bed so they wouldn't hear you! They thought we were asleep you see.' Rachel pointed out to Lily who nodded her head, eager to hear the rest of the story.

'It's not like I was the only one laughing! You, as I recall had a hard time containing yourself!' Simone snapped back at Rachel who grinned sheepishly.

'Ok, so we were both laughing our heads off… Better?'

'Yes much better, I am satisfied.' Simone smiled.

'Anyway. Melissa was saying all the ways she was going to try and seduce James and there were things like…'

'Cornering him in the changing rooms after Quidditch practice.'

'Or in amongst the shelves of the Library.'

'Or asking for a private word with him and dragging him off to some broom cupboard on the fourth floor'

All three girls doubled over laughing and Remus looked up at them. 'Well she's going to have to think of something better than those.'

The girls stopped laughing and looked quizzically at Remus.

'What do you know that we don't hey Remus?' Simone asked.

'Yeah, care to share?'

'Just open your mouth and…'

'Well I would tell you, but you'd all have to be quiet first.'

'Ok, sorry Remus.' The girls laughed.

'Well let me think… Madison in the year below us in Ravenclaw tried to seduce him in the changing rooms… Crystal in Hufflepuff tried to seduce him in the Library… And Tamara in the year below is in Hufflepuff, she tried to drag him off to the broom closet.'

The girls started giggling and Sirius took a break in shoveling food into his mouth to say 'Yeah… And didn't Melissa already try to drag him behind a tapestry on the way to class last year?'

Lily almost choked on her pumpkin juice, but Rachel slapped her back and turned to Sirius. 'She did what?'

'Yeah Melissa has been doing heaps of things like that, James tells me each and every time. It's been what… about 20 now?' He added, looking over to Remus.

'Yeah that, or more.' He replied, not taking his eyes off the Daily Prophet.

The girls laughed again but had to stop when James walked in and sat down next to Remus.

'Hey Remus, what are ya reading?'

James' hair still hung flat on his head, his eyes were dark and gloomy and held only a small sign off life. He brushed his hair out of his eyes and took and apple from the bowl on the table and took a bite into it.

'There's been another attack' Remus whispered, loud enough for the three girls, Sirius and James to hear. 'Listen to this… _Last night, after returning home from work, Michael Hayden – Head of the Department of Mysteries, discovered the dark mark hovering over his household. He found his wife Tessa aged 34 and his young son Mark aged 9, dead on the floor of the living room. Evidence shows that both mother and son were tortured before the killing curse was bestowed upon them. Our sympathy goes out to Michael and his family for their loss.'_ Remus finished.

'That evil man, he's-'

'I don't think that calling him a man is the right word Lily. I mean he's killed hundreds of innocent people!' Simone interrupted.

'Well how about despicable, loathsome, fu-'

'Well good morning Rachel.' McGonagall interrupted before Rachel could finish her sentence. 'Here are your timetables.' She said, tapping each one with her wand before handing them out to the six students in front of her. 'I'd like to congratulate you all for making it into my NEWT Transfiguration class.' She said with a small smile before heading off down the table.

'God that was close!' Rachel sighed before looking at her timetable. 'So who's been unlucky like me to get Potions first?'

In answer, Rachel received five answers of 'Me.'. She smiled. 'Well that's good. I don't fancy having to do the class by myself!'

'Well come on you lot!' Simone said, dragging Rachel to her feet who pulled Lily up with her. 'Class starts in fifteen minutes and the dungeons are quite hard to get to in rush-hour traffic! Let's go!'

Sirius stood up and saluted her. James and Remus then stood up and grabbed their books. The three girls linked arms together and walked out of the room laughing at a comment Rachel just made.

James started walking slowly back down the table before Remus grabbed his arm and turned James to look at him. 'Where'd you get that cut over your eye?' Remus whispered, trying not to draw attention to them.

'Oh, that.' James said, gently tracing the line with his finger. 'Well last night I… well I…'

Remus just nodded. 'You had that dream again, didn't you?'

'Yeah. But this time it was worse. Anyway Lily woke me up and stopped the cut bleeding and we just talked till it was time to get ready.'

'Well if you ever need to talk about it…' Remus trailed off and James nodded. 'Well come on! Off to class. I daresay Slughorn will be most pleased to see us again, no?'.

James made a small smile before walking towards Sirius who was tapping his foot impatiently at the door. James shrugged and the three boys headed off to potions class.

Lily, Simone and Rachel were sitting down on the cold stone next to the door to the potions room.

'So how was your night with James?' Simone asked suddenly.

'Oh, it was umm…' Lily wondered if she should tell them about the incident this morning. She opened her mouth to tell them, but then thought better of it. 'It was fine! I have a nice room and a beautiful common room. We'll have to do a sleepover on the weekend, what do you say?'

Rachel grinned. 'Absolutely! Our girls' nights are always so much fun!'

'Apart from the fact that Melissa always interrupted them.'

'Even so, they were still fun!'

'But this one will be better!'

The three girls smiled at each other. It was only the first day back and already they were planning out their weekend. Girls' nights were always fun between these three. It was the one night every fortnight that they could relax without Lily pressuring them about homework, which Simone and Rachel were thankful for. They always got out their chocolate and candy and Simone even got a bottle of Firewhisky from some unknown source. They couldn't wait for the weekend.

Seconds later, James, Sirius and Remus rounded the corner to find the girls sitting on the floor. They leant against the wall opposite them in silence. Not long after their arrival a further ten students from various houses arrived as Slughorn opened the classroom door.

It must have looked funny to the other ten students when James, Sirius and Remus all simultaneously offered their right hand down to one of the girls sitting on the floor. It must have looked even more odd when each of the girls took their right hand and were pulled to their feet at the same time also. They all turned and faced the doorway. James, who had pulled Lily to her feet, was still holding her hand. When he realized this he dropped it immediately and allowed Lily to enter the classroom before him.

James was about to follow her in when Snape brushed past him, shouldering him as he did so. James stopped, wiped the spot where Snape had touched him and then continued into the room where he sat down next to Gordon Cameron, a chaser on the house Quidditch team and the other boy housed in their dorm.

'Sure to be a good season this year hey James?' Gordon commented as James sat down next to him.

'Yeah absolutely, Jacquie had better not be as bad as Nathan.'

'Jacquie got captain did she? That's good. Yeah Nathan was a bit tough. But he did manage to lead us to victory by winning the Quidditch cup three times, didn't he?'

'Yeah I suppose you're right.' James agreed.

'Now everyone quiet down!' Slughorn said cheerfully. 'Welcome back students! It is nice to see you all back safe and sound after the holidays.'

At these words James rolled his eyes and rested his head in his hand.

'Now this year you will be creating the most complex potions I have ever seen, but never fear, I and your fellow classmates will be able to assist you if ever you go astray. Now, if you will open your books to page nineteen, we will begin with today's potion. I have set you a simple one to get you back into the swing of things before we go tackling the harder ones, chop chop!'

Everyone opened their books and went about the room, collecting ingredients and lighting their cauldrons. Halfway through class Slughorn went up to Lily.

'Ah Miss Evans. It's wonderful to see my top student back!'

'Thanks Professor.' Lily smiled.

'I rather hoped you would come to my office for a start of year party with the other Slug Club members tonight?'

'Oh, umm…' Lily always hated these parties. The club was made so Slughorn could get in contact with people who had famous relatives or students that had talent in a subject like herself. 'I'm actually busy tonight professor. James and I have our head duties to attend to.'

'Well that's a pity, never mind. Just make sure you're at the next one!' he laughed happily and moved on to the next student to check on their potion.

At the end of class Lily rushed out of the room and didn't stop until she was at the bottom of the stairs. Rachel and Simone soon caught up with her.

'Gosh Lily, what did you have to run for?'

'Slughorn.' Lily panted in reply.

'Oh yeah. Annoying isn't he?' Rachel added.

'Unbelievably'

'Well, what have you got now? Simone asked.

'Well I've got Divination' said Rachel

'And I've got Ancient Runes.' Said Lily.

'So I'm on my own for Muggle Studies then?'

'Looks like it. How about we meet in the Entrance hall after the end of class? Then we can go down to the lake and relax during our spare?' Lily Suggested.

'Sounds like a plan!' Well shall we make our way to class then?' Rachel suggested.

The other two nodded and they made their way up the stairs. Simone left them at the second floor and Lily left Rachel at the fourth floor, leaving her to climb all the way up to Trelawney's stifling hot classroom.

James and Sirius left Remus at the fourth floor and continued up the stairs to Trelawney's classroom.

'Hey Rachel.' Sirius greeted the girl with a smile which she politely returned.

'Hi boys, sticking with the mumbo jumbo this year are we?' she asked them.

'Sure are! It's easy to pass and you can even fall asleep and the old bat won't notice.' Sirius replied.

Rachel laughed. 'Yep, it's always good to have Divination first off so I can catch up on some sleep.'

'Hi Remus.' Lily greeted the boy as he sat down next to her. 'It ought to be challenging this year right?'

'Class? I daresay it should.' Remus replied. 'As long as Professor Alden doesn't behave like he's got a stick up his-'

'Morning Professor!' Lily butted in, elbowing Remus in the ribs to make him quiet.

Professor Alden passed their table and made his way to the front of the room. Remus and Lily shared a laugh between them before turning their attention to him.

* * *

AN: Well that was chapter 4! I don't know when i'll next be able to update but i'll really try! Some reviews would be nice if people would be kind to submit them. Not complaining! Just letting you know i'd appreciate them.

-X-Nefertiri-X-


	5. First Day: Part 2

**AN: Woo! Chapter 5! This is the last chapter I'll be able to submit for a few weeks because school starts back on Wednesday and I'm in Year 11!! AHH! So yeah, When I don't have homework i'll be writing. Please Read and Enjoy!**

* * *

After their class, the girls met up and began walking down to the lake. They were about ten meters away from the oak tree when they heard voices. They stopped abruptly and strained their ears to listen to what they were saying. Lily knew that this was inappropriate, but for some reason she just couldn't help herself.

'…and you don't think I haven't tried?'

'I'm not saying that you haven't.'

'Well what am I going to do then?'

'I don't know wha-'

'If you were me Remus, then what would you do?'

'I really don't know what I'd do James.'

There was a long pause, the girls shifted a little closer to them.

'I can't just stand by and watch as that maniac destroys more families! He's already destroyed mine!'

* * *

Lily felt a grip tighten on her hand and looked up at Rachel who was blinking sadly in the direction of the voices.

'We should go.' Simone whispered. 'One of them is bound to kill us if they find us listening.'

The other two nodded and silently they slipped away from the two boys and made their way around to the far side of the lake. While they were walking, the conversation between the boys was still going.

* * *

'James! You can't do anything!'

'Who say's I can't? He's taken my life away Remus. Surely you can understand that!'

'All the same! They wouldn't want you risking your life for them James. They stood in his way to give you time to get out.'

'And I should never have left!'

'No you should have.'

James screamed out in frustration. On the other side of the lake the girls heard his cries and tightened their grip on one another.

'I can't accept that!' James panted, tears slowly forming in his eyes. 'Uh! I need Sirius here, where the hell is he?'. James pulled a mirror out of his pocket and spoke to it. 'Sirius! Meet me down by the lake with Remus, ok? Sirius!'.

The boys face swam into the other side of the mirror. 'You're with Moony down by the lake? Ok, I'll be there soon!' and his face disappeared.

'James, if you're hoping he'll take your side…'

'I'm not hoping for anything!'

Remus rolled his eyes which earned a glowering look from James.

'Look, all I'm saying is-'

'Prongs! Are you alright?' Sirius panted as he ran over to James who was kneeling on the ground. He placed a hand on James' shaking shoulder and looked up at Remus. 'What the hell did you say to him?' he asked angrily.

Remus stood perplexed at how past Sirius had managed to get down to them, but then again, he thought, Sirius did have a knack for turning up in places unexpectedly. Perhaps he was already on his way down to them? Remus shook himself mentally and answered Sirius's question.

'James wants to go and do something about what happened over the summer. I tried to tell him that he can't and he won't listen to me.' Remus explained to his friend.

'Prongs? You know he's right mate, you can't-'

'I don't care!' James yelled, shrugging Sirius' hand off his shoulder and moving a few feet out of reach. 'They got hurt to protect me. They're now in St. Mungo's because of me! Don't you understand how horrible I feel? Being responsible for something like that?'

'_God, James can be so pig-headed sometimes…'_

'James mate-'

'No! I won't listen!' James said stubbornly. 'If you're not going to help me then there's no point in me wasting my time any further just sitting around and talking!' James proceeded to turn and walk off from his best friends.

'Prongs you're making a mistake!' Sirius called after him. 'Prongs stop and look at me!'. When James continued to walk, his pace quickening, Sirius lost all control and ran at his friend. James realized what Sirius was doing when he was only a few feet behind him and that it was too late for him to get away. Sirius tackled James to the ground and pinned him down while Remus stood over the struggling pair.

'James, Sirius. Stop it ok?' Remus asked angrily. 'We're never going to get any solving done with you two fighting like this!'

At this remark, both James and Sirius stopped their struggle but Sirius still sat on top of James, pinning him to the ground so he wouldn't escape.

'James, I'll help you ok? We both will. But we have to wait and not do anything rational that will get us killed, alright?'

James thought about this for a moment. But he then nodded and a satisfied Sirius got up off James and pulled him to his feet. James smirked at his friend.

'You still hit like an old woman'

'And you're as easy as pinning a pillow to the ground'

'James, are you going to follow my advice and not do anything rational?'

'Alright Moony.' James said reluctantly and allowed himself to be steered in the direction of the castle.

* * *

On the other side of the lake, three girls stood and watched as three boys fought and made amends. They had loosened their grip on one another by now and instead were giving each other inquiring looks.

'Well I don't think we need to guess what that was about.' Rachel commented as Lily pulled them along.

'Gosh Lily, what's the rush?' Simone asked as her arm was almost wrenched from her shoulder.

'Class you dummy!' Lily replied, tugging her two friends along with her.

Simone and Rachel both leaned back a little to look at each other and roll their eyes.

'Honestly Lily, would it kill you to be a minute late for a class?'

'Kill me?' Lily pondered on this thought for a moment and came to a stand still. Relieved, the two girls she had been dragging along with her took this opportunity to reclaim their arms as Lily reached into her pocket and pulled out her timetable.

'I think it would kill all of us because we have transfiguration in 10 minutes' Lily then stuffed her timetable back into her pocked, grabbed her friends' arms once more and pulled them after her. Without resisting, they followed and didn't complain. Everyone knew what McGonagall could be like when a student turned up late for her class, even more so when it was the first class for the year.

* * *

'Well, everyone come inside and we'll start the lesson then' McGonagall said as she stepped aside to allow her small class of students to enter the classroom. When everyone had chosen their seats Rachel noticed that James was missing. She tapped Remus on the shoulder who was sitting in front of her and asked if he knew where he was.

'I don't know Rach,' he whispered after leaning back in his chair.

'Oh McGonagall's not going to be happy with him!' Rachel said and sat back properly.

Lily had heard her friends' conversation and immediately looked around the room for James. As Rachel had said, James wasn't anywhere to be seen. Lily looked up at McGonagall to see that she was flittering around with an assortment of papers on her desk. Lily turned her head as she heard the classroom door open. James stuck his head around the corner and snuck into the classroom.

He sat down in the only available seat next to Remus and set his bag down under the table. He stretched his arms up over his head making his shirt become even less tucked in than it had been before, then ran a hand through his hair and settled in his seat.

Lily had noticed when James walked in that his cheeks were holding a faint pink tinge and a line of tear stains. Lily sighed and wrote a note down on a torn off piece of her parchment as McGonagall finally started reading out the register.

There were twelve students who made it into this class and Lily felt proud to be one of them. She was admittedly relieved that Snape was not as good at Transfiguration as he believed and did not make it into this advanced class.

Lily had finished writing her note and pulled her wand unhurriedly out of her pocket. She pointed it at the parchment and muttered 'Transfero parchment'. The parchment vanished and Lily pointed her want at James.

James had his elbow propped up on the desk with his head in his and while his other hand sat while he drummed his fingers on the wood. He felt a small tickling sensation under his hand and lifted it up. Noticing a small scrap of parchment he picked it up and hid it behind his hand.

'_James, I don't know if anyone else noticed, but I think you might want to rub the sadness out of you face. –Lily'_

James started at the note, then turned it over and wrote one back. He whispered the same spell Lily had used and pointed his wand at her. When Lily received the note she concealed it behind her hand as James had done and read it.

'_Lily, thanks for letting me know. We have to see to our Head Duties and such tonight right? How about we take some food from the Great Hall and eat up in our common room and we can get a start on it all. –James.'_

Lily had sighed unknowingly when she read the part of James' note that had said _'our common room'_ and wrote one back.

'_Sure James. I'll meet you with everyone at the start of diner and we can go from there. –Lily.'_

When Lily looked up to point her wand at James she noticed that he was rubbing his face with both of his hands. She smiled.

* * *

The rest of the day had passed without many dramas. Apart from Rachel and Simone's Herbology class where the Snap Dragon Simone was growing, blew a fiery burst of flames at her and caused her to fall over backwards and hit her head on the table behind her. Though she still had a lucky escape from getting burnt.

When dinner was set out on the tables, Lily and James each made their excuses to their friends and stole away to their common room with a plate of food and some bread rolls each. They set their food upon the table and took some parchment out of their bags. Lily also pulled out the list Dumbledore had given them and rolled it out between them.

'So do you think we should start with the patrolling roster?' Lily asked James, making a start on one of her bread rolls.

'Well that's going to be a little difficult, because we don't know when some of the prefects have Quidditch practice.'

'Ah, good point'

'So what else can we start on?'

'We could always crack down on this 'Halloween Dance' thing that he wants us to do'

'A what?'

'A Halloween Dance! When we first read the list I honestly didn't see it there.'

James thought for a moment 'Actually, neither did I. Do you think he added it somehow?'

'Knowing Dumbledore? I'd have to say yes.' Lily laughed and James took a swig of pumpkin juice.

'Well here's the first question. Do we want it to be a dress up or a formal thing?'

'Dress up is always fun James! But I'm afraid that people might think it's a little too… _childish_ for them. Plus I'd hate to see what Sirius would wear.'

James sniggered 'But I don't think that the guys would like to be dressing up completely formal either Lily.'

'Then we can make it semi-formal and have a masquerade theme to it.'

'Masquerade… I like it. So…'

The two continued making plans well into the night, their dinners lay looking untouched and forgotten. After they had fallen asleep on separate couches, Lily with her small frame curled up like a cat and James sprawled ungracefully with his leg dangling over the arm of the couch, a house elf came into the room and cleaned up the mess they'd left. She then conjured two blankets and threw one over Lily and another over James to protect them from the cold when the fire finally died out completely. The house elf then nodded, snapped her fingers together and disappeared in a haze. It was fortunate that it happened to be a Friday and they could sleep in and make a start on their homework tomorrow.

* * *

**AN: So that was chapter 5! Hope you liked it and would be so kind as to review? That would be lovely. Thanks for reading!**

_-X-Nefertiri-X-_


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